


Role of a Lifetime

by Badatnamingthings522



Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Theatre, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Getting Together, I just want them all to perform Bare: a Pop Opera basically, M/M, Pining, Simon is dense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-10-15 09:14:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17525936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Badatnamingthings522/pseuds/Badatnamingthings522
Summary: His voice was low and smooth, and he sounded so good that Simon knew his mouth was open, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. The song was something about dying, and there was so much emotion packed into it that Simon felt like crying. When the last note came, the whole auditorium was silent. Baz promptly thanked Miss Possibelf and walked off the stage, sitting down in a row of seats near Simon. Simon never took his eyes off Baz, and he could tell he was staring, but he didn’t care. Baz didn’t even look at him, just pulled out a book and started reading as Miss Possibelf finished her decisions.Simon and Baz fall in love while working on a musical. Basically I just wanted to combine my love of Carry On with my love of Bare: a Pop Opera together! No prior knowledge of musicals of any kind is needed to read this fic. I hope y'all enjoy!





	1. Chapter 1: Auditions

**Author's Note:**

> Hi y'all, I'm so excited to be posting this, and hopefully new chapters will come out quickly. I actually did research for this instead of doing my homework, so you know I'm serious. All that said, I've never actually been in a musical and I have no idea what it actually entails, so please go easy on me. Enjoy!

A gentle breeze flew in from the open window next to Simon’s bed, flickering his papers up until he put an arm down to stop them. Simon sighed as he looked over his papers. Auditions were next week and he had procrastinated learning his lines for far too long now. In between schoolwork and this whole saving-the-world business, he barely had time to sleep, let alone be in the school play. However, he had been told that students that participated would be earning extra credit, and he desperately needed help in his Latin class. Why did he even need to learn a dead language anyway?

He let his eyes stray, finding himself looking out the window and at the football pitch. He wanted to go out and play a game, but he had to memorize this or Penny would scold him. Somehow, she would just know if he wasn’t doing what he was supposed to. She always knew.

Baz was so perfect at everything he did, he wouldn’t even need the extra credit from the play, so he was free to do whatever he wanted. Probably off somewhere plotting Simon’s demise, or whatever he did for fun. Simon despised him, that git.

Back to rehearsing. Their school was putting on a production of Bare: A Pop Opera, and Simon wasn’t sure who he wanted to play yet. He would just audition and play whoever they gave him, he guessed. He wasn’t even really sure what the play was about, but as long as he got his extra credit, he didn’t really care.

Luckily, he had managed to rope Penny and Agatha into this mess with him. Penny didn’t need the extra credit, but apparently she really liked the play they were putting on, and Agatha wanted to be front and center, like she always was. He didn’t know what he’d do if they weren’t going to be there with him. He hadn’t know what to sing for his audition song, as apparently this was a musical, but Penny had hooked him up with something she told him he would like.

He had to finish practicing before Baz got there, or he would get a pillow to the head for being too noisy. He didn’t think he was being that distracting.

 

Simon could feel his palms sweating. Just because he was used to everyone staring at him all the time, on account of his being the chosen one, didn’t mean he was prepared to go up on stage and sing.

He wiped his hands off on his uniform and ran a hand through his hair. He had to get a grip. He hadn’t faced the Insidious Humdrum just to have a little stage fright. Besides, Penny had gone over his lines with him enough that he could say them in his sleep, without stuttering. And he had practiced his song so much that Baz probably had it memorized by now. Baz probably hated it when he sang.

He came out of his thoughts when he heard his name called. He took a breath and walked up the stairs to the stage, squinting into the audience.  
“Well, go on,” Miss Possibelf’s voice reached him. She was directing the school play, and Simon thought that she would do a good job, on account of the fact that she seemed to care about each and every one of her students.

“Um, my name’s Simon Snow,” he said, unsure if she needed any other information. She gestured for him to get on with it, so he did.

Simon recited his lines with ease. All the practicing with Penny had really helped, and he felt pretty confident. He wasn’t sure what the context for his lines was, but he said them with all the conviction he had in him.

“And now your song,” she said, when he had finished. This was it.

“One song glory, one song before I go, glory, one song to leave behind,” he started. Penny had been adamant that he sing this for his audition song, he wasn’t sure why. “Find one song, one last refrain, glory, from the pretty boy frontman. Wasted opportunity.”

He sang the rest, gaining momentum as he went. The last line was the most intense, but he thought he nailed it. When he was done, he smiled at Miss Possibelf and got off the stage as fast as he could, face going red.

He still had to hang out in the auditorium to wait for Penny and Agatha to audition, and then for the cast list to be announced. Penny had told him that she would be singing Watch what Happens from Newsies and Agatha was doing Thank Goodness from Wicked. He didn’t know what any of that meant, but he was sure it would be good.  
He was right, they were both amazing singers. Their lines were all given perfectly too. They sat down to wait for auditions to end so the cast list would be announced, figuring that they would check out who else was auditioning. Trixie was there with her girlfriend, along with some other people they knew.

Simon was arguing with Penny over whether or not the last person had done better than the person before them when they were interrupted by Miss Possibelf.

“Tyrannus Basilton Grimm Pitch,” she called, and Simon felt his jaw drop.

Baz walked onto the stage, looking for all the world like he didn’t care about where he was or what he was doing. He began his lines, and Simon could feel himself become enchanted with every word that came out of Baz’s mount. It was like he was casting a spell on all of them, and Simon wondered if he actually was. Only Baz would use a charm to make the audience hang on to his every word, what a wanker.

“Excellent, now you song,” Miss Possibelf exclaimed when he finished, and Baz started singing.

His voice was low and smooth, and he sounded so good that Simon knew his mouth was open, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. The song was something about dying, and there was so much emotion packed into it that Simon felt like crying. When the last note came, the whole auditorium was silent. Baz promptly thanked Miss Possibelf and walked off the stage, sitting down in a row of seats near Simon. Simon never took his eyes off Baz, and he could tell he was staring, but he didn’t care. Baz didn’t even look at him, just pulled out a book and started reading as Miss Possibelf finished her decisions.

Simon asked Penny if she knew what song he was singing. She told him that it was Dust and Ashes from Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812. He asked why it had such a pretentious name, and she glared at him.

“Gather around me students,” she shouted after a few minutes, drawing everyone towards her. Here is the cast list. Now, of course, if you didn’t make it, you are guaranteed a place in the chorus and can help with the set.” She listed off a few minor roles before she got to the leads.

“Penelope Bunce will be playing the part of Nadia.” Simon put a hand on Penny’s shoulder and laughed.

“Agatha Wellbelove will be playing the part of Ivy.” Agatha beamed as Simon congratulated her.

“Simon Snow will be paying the part of Peter.” Simon didn’t know who that was, but he smiled nonetheless. Extra credit, here he comes!

“And, last but not least, Tyrannus Basilton Grimm Pitch will be playing the part of Jason.” Simon looked over to see Baz quickly hide a smirk behind his hand. He probably expected he’d make it. Of course he did, he was bloody brilliant, although Simon would never tell him that.

When the group broke apart, Penny turned to him.

“Congrats on the part, I’m excited to see you and Baz playing lovers.”

“What?” Simon shouted, drawing the attention of the people around them. He quickly lowered his voice and whispered “what are you talking about?”

“You didn’t know? Peter and Jason are boyfriends in the play. Good luck with your new role!” She laughed and walked over to talk to Agatha, leaving Simon wondering just what he had gotten himself.

He glanced over at Baz as he left. Baz was at the top of his classes. Surely he didn’t need the extra credit. What was he up to?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Baz has no idea what he's doing and might make a friend along the way.

Baz had no idea what he was up to. He couldn’t fathom what had caused him to make such a poorly thought out decision.

Baz had always liked musical theatre, and he especially liked this musical. It got him through some pretty rough patches when he was younger and trying to figure himself out. He probably would have tried out for a role regardless, but the temptation of acting alongside Simon had been too much to resist. All he wanted was to pretend, even if just for an hour, that he and Simon were different people, in a different circumstance, and not opposite sides of a war destined to kill each other. That maybe, in this new circumstance, they could even be free to love each other, at least before their tragic ending.

He wanted to pretend, if only for a little while, that Simon didn’t hate him. Didn’t loathe the very ground he walked on, didn’t feel repulsed by his very presence. That he didn’t do his best to encourage this hatred, hadn’t created it in his own pathetic attempt at a coping mechanism. That was the beauty of acting. You didn’t have to be yourself.

When Simon finally made it back to their room later that night, he didn’t say a word, just crawled into his bed with the covers pulled over his head and pretended to sleep. Baz could still hear his irregular breathing, perks of being a vampire and all. The air in the room felt stifling, and Baz knew that he had to say something.

“I look forward to working with you on the musical,” he said, wondering at how something he so sincerely meant could sound so cold and sarcastic coming out of his mouth.

“Bugger off,” Simon replied, giving up on his pretend sleeping and turning in his bed to face away from Baz, throwing off his blanket.

Baz stayed where he was for a while, listening to Simon’s breathing slowly even out until he was actually asleep. The back of his head was facing Baz, and he wondered what it would feel like to run his hands through that ridiculous mop of golden curls. He didn’t think he would be getting much sleep that night.

Baz finished his classes for the day with a knot in his stomach from both nerves and excitement. The first meeting for the musical was that afternoon, and he felt like he was going to throw up.

He followed Simon and his friends to the theater at a distance. When they got there, he sat a little bit away from them and opened a book to wait for the meeting to start.

A few minutes later, Miss Possibelf rushed in with her arms full of scripts and started passing them around.

“Alright everyone,” she said as he looked down at his copy of the musical, “here’s your scripts. Today we’re just going to go over the plot, to make sure you’re all familiar with your roles.”

She ran down a summary of the plot, and Baz couldn’t help but glance over at Simon every time she mentioned their characters being in love, but Simon was staring straight ahead of himself, resolutely not looking at him. He saw Penelope lean over and whisper in his ear a few times and then look back to Baz. He didn’t bother hiding that he was staring at them, figuring that she would take his interest as plotting like Simon would, but rather than looking suspicious or annoyed, she just looked amused.

She even had the nerve to smirk at him.

One of the boys who Baz thought might be playing Lucas raised his hand when Miss Possibelf was done and asked “so whose fault was the ending, anyways?”

Oh Merlin, here we go.

“I think it was Ivy’s fault, she shouldn’t have slept with Jason,” said a girl a few rows behind Baz, and the look Penelope turned on her made him fear for the girl’s life. Penelope was about to shout something at her when Agatha put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

“No it was absolutely not,” Agatha said, flipping her long blond hair behind her back and glaring. “She was under the impression that Jason was single and that he was interested in her, and it was just as much Jason’s responsibility to use protection as it was hers.” She leaned back in her seat, as if daring anyone to argue with her.

Simon had been watching all of this with wide eyes. He didn’t seem like he really knew what was going on, but he sure looked cute.

The boy who had originally spoken asked “so then it was Jason’s fault?”

“It wasn’t really anyone’s fault. They all had their own reasons and motivations, and, ultimately, they all had some part in it. Except for Father Flynn, because fuck him.” Okay, so maybe Aunt Fiona’s Normal swearing had started to wear off on him.

“Merlin, isn’t he awful?” Penelope asked.

“The worst,” Baz agreed.

She seemed pleasantly surprised that he seemed to know what he was talking about and immediately launched into a conversation about character relationships and motivations, starting by asking his opinions on Matt.

Baz was surprised by how fun talking to Penelope about this was, as she always had something to say about anything he asked her, and he soon lost himself in the conversation. Even Agatha would break in to say something once in a while, all until Miss Possibelf stopped them.

“I’m happy to see some of our actors so enthusiastic about this production, but this concludes our meeting for today. Let’s meet up tomorrow to do some cold reading.”

Everyone began to grab their bags and go, and Baz was prepared to walk back to his room alone when he saw Penelope excuse herself from Simon and Agatha and come up to him.

“So, what were you saying about Claire’s portrayal in Epiphany versus in See Me?” She smiled at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this house we do not allow Ivy shaming, and Agatha will beat up anyone who says otherwise.


End file.
